The Many Forms of Cyber Crimes Trending in the UAE

While some people are busy discovering new security measures for computer hacking, there are several others who are busy in finding a loophole to it. When locks were invented, criminals came up with master keys, when codes were being written, hackers got busy in decoding them. In the 21st century, we live half of our lives through cell phones and the internet, which naturally gave the felons a chance to commit crime in their own way, with cyber attacks. Sadly, the UAE is one of those nations where the young and old are not only becoming victims of cybercrime, but the percentage is increasing at an alarming rate.

For those who are planning a visit to the UAE or going to permanently make it their home, be warned of the many forms of cyber crimes prevalent there.

Following are the ones trending most profusely:

Hackings:

One of the highest targets of cyber crime in the UAE are the commercial businesses. They often become victims when first, their data and computers get viciously hacked and again, when they are being threatened by the criminals to cooperate or risk the leakage of confidential information and lose their credibility forever. No matter how fast the business’s IT department works, it takes at least weeks to months to recover completely from such an attack and form a new layer of protection. In a KPMG 2015 UAE Cyber Security Survey carried out for two months, a third of the people admitted to being victims of hackings.

Targeted Attacks:

In the UAE and across the Gulf Region, the hackers usually cause unrest in the cities by going after government facilities and try to brake through the city's’ official financial centers, healthcare, hospital, oil and gas services and other economical mainstays.

Hotels:

Dubai welcomes more than 10 million tourists every year which makes its tourism industry boom. High tourist flow means a number of hotels to accommodate these visitors and Dubai is known for its extravagance. In the last couple of years, the cyber attackers have been targeting the smart point-of-sale systems of some of the largest and most lavish hotels in the region.

Unsafe Wi-Fi Connections:

Never trust a public Wi-Fi and read that twice if you are in the UAE (or anywhere for that matter where you are using a public hot spot). While it is very tempting to visit the restaurant and check into the hotel that offers free Wi-Fi connections, they are the easiest way of cyber hacking and people get victimized everyday.

Debit Card Fraud:

In 2016, an Italian-American was surprised to find out that her card had been blocked. Upon further investigation, she found out that an online purchase made her the victim of identity theft, which emerged as one of the many methods of cyber crimes. This victim was just one of the two-million people in the UAE who became the target of credit card fraud in 2016.

Email:

It is easy to trick anyone who has an email account. The unsuspected victims instantly lose control of their PC as soon as they open an attachment and become subjected to viruses or ramsom threats.

The Cyber Crime Authority of UAE is taking measures and believes that catching the criminals behind these activities will work more effectively than building stronger security walls. In the meantime, UAE residents and visitors have to remain very vigilant.